GRAND RAPIDS — Taxpayers this November will be asked to open their wallets and approve a 1 mill tax increase for a Grand Rapids Public Schools sinking fund through 2016, which would pay for basic building needs like new roofs and heating and cooling systems.

If voters agree, it would provide an estimated $4 million next year, allowing the district to get started on a list of $35 million in needed repairs at nearly all of its 55 school buildings.

The measure, if approved, would cost the owner of a $117,000 home about $68 a year.

Superintendent Bernard Taylor said hopes are voters will consider the increasing long-term cost of repairs when they go to the polls Nov. 8, despite the current anti-tax sentiment.

He said the district’s only other option is to pay for repairs out of its general fund, which is projected to see a $10 million deficit by the end of the 2011-12 school year. All of the $165 million in bonds voters approved in 2004 have been spent on reconstruction or major renovation of 11 elementary and middle schools.

“We’re talking about keeping buildings safe, dry and warm and the district has no funds short of taking money out of the operations budget, and if you take money out of the operations budget you have less money for classrooms,” Taylor said. “Voters need to understand that if they let these buildings fall into disrepair, it will only cost them more in the long-term.”

The move was approved on an 8-1 vote with newly-elected board member Raynard Ross the lone dissenter. Ross believes voters are hurting right now financially and are unlikely to approve a tax increase.

“Everybody is struggling and what not,” he said. “It’s just not a good time to ask the public for more money.”

The district could have by law sought a tax increase for a sinking fund for up to 20 years but officials said they see this as a short-term tool to address immediate needs while they continue work on longer-range facilities plans.

The district all along has said it would likely consider a second bond issue following the successful 2004 request to pay for improvements to its high schools and has held a series of public input sessions to gauge public sentiment. Those meetings prompted officials to delay a further bond request.

Among the larger projects requiring funding is a new $640,000 heating controls system at Creston High School, a new $550,000 heating and cooling system at Union High School and a new $250,000 boiler at City/Middle High School.